Outrider’s Death
Log Title: Outrider’s Death Characters: Broadside, Dust Devil, Ghost, Blizzard, Jazz, Metroplex, Typhoon, Outrider, Swish, Harbinger Location: Oklahoma/Texas - USA Year: 2001 TP: None. category:Logs As Logged by Typhoon - Tuesday, August 28, 2001, 9:26 PM ---- <> Outrider says, "Autob*ts... I have*completed... my duty.... *slurred badly and sounding drugged* Till all are... one..." <> Blizzard says, "Do you require aid?" <> Weatherbot Typhoon says, "What? What's going on?" <> Weatherbot Typhoon says, "I'm on the Broadside. Where are you, Outtie?" <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "Anyone pickin' him up on their scans?" <> Weatherbot Typhoon says, "He's not around here, sir. I don't know where he is." <> LtCmdr Metroplex says, "OUTRIDER'S SIGNAL DETECTED IN NORTH AMERICA: TEXAS. SIGNAL FADING FAST. COORDINATES TO FOLLOW." <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "Guess the rest of my repairs will have to wait. Is Broadside still in the Gulf?" <> Broadside says, "Yessir!" <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "Okay, you're the closest then. Metroplex, transmit coordinates to Broadside." <> Weatherbot Typhoon says, "We can be in Corpus Cristi in 15 minutes, sir!" <> Blizzard says, "do you require any backup or extra assitance?" <> LtCmdr Metroplex says, "ACKNOWLEDGED. TRANSMITTING NOW." <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "Keep me posted then. Outrider's not getting' out of Ratchet's party this easily." <> Broadside says, "Gotcha, Jazz. We're on our way!" Oklahoma/Texas - USA Lying in almost the dead center of the southern half of the United States, most of the area here is taken up by Texas. Easily one of the biggest states in the country, Texas is a major hub for US industries dealing in electronics and information services. Most of the farmland is used for raising cattle and growing cotton, and many also serve as dude ranches for vacationers looking for fun living like a cowboy for a few days. Massive oil wells rise over the landscape as well, churning with oil-pumping power. Above it is the smaller, pan-shaped Oklahoma, which is also rich with oil and farmland. Contents: Outrider, Harbinger Aircraft Carrier docks in Corpus Cristi, and Typhoon transforms and debarks. Typhoon transforms into a large brown Land Rover, complete with a high-tech trailer. Aircraft Carrier reluctantly transforms into FB111-Aardvark mode, and begins flying to Outrider's coordinates, as Typhoon follows below. There, in a burnt-out area of roadway in the middle of a Texan desert, is two figures shadowed in ihe starlight... one is the hulking form of the Sweep Harbinger. The other, smaller one is the near-invisible form of Outrider. The rambler drops to his knees, hand still locked around the hilt of his sword - which, by the way is impaled through Harbinger's chest - and he lets out rasping noises, mech-fluid dribbling from his mouth as his shredded chest plate, and the laser core within sparks and starts to dim. FB-111 Aardvark races to the scene, leaving road-bound Typhoon in the dust. <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "Have you found him yet?" <> Blizzard says, "any news to report?" <> Broadside says, "Almost on the scene, sir." <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "I'm in the repair bay. I'll grab a medic and meet you there in a shuttle." <> Broadside says, "Losing my lock on the signal, but I think I see something..." <> Broadside says, "I got a Sweep here... think I see Outrider as well... diving down to see." <> Sub-Cmdr Jazz says, "You're a big boy Broadside, just scare the Con outta there. We'll be arrivin' shortly." <> Broadside says, "Will do, sir. Both look injured... shouldn't be difficult." <> Broadside says, "Outrider's down. Need medical backup immediately." Autobot Shuttle quickly closes with the scene and slows down. Jazz sets down softly on the sand a little ways away from the big Autobot and the downed one, a cloud of sand getting blown up all around. Finally, the door opens up and Jazz steps out. Federation II> Jazz has left. Jazz strides in. Land Rover rolls into the area from the south, spotting the large Autobot in the distance, and following the shuttle from below as it passes her and lands. Out of nowhere, someone continues to blaze the thundering trail, only now dropping silent as the engine noise just.. stops. With a rapid series of panels unfolding, some seeming to simply dissolve, Ghost reforms into a tall, sleek femme. Broadside looks up as the shuttle lands, and gestures for Jazz to come over. Outrider's optics flicker on again slightly, in acknowledgement of Broadside... "B... Broadside... Wh... where's... Cy... cy..." he stutters, voice hardly audible. Jazz sees the motion and transforms, driving over to Broadside and Outrider before transforming back and kneeling down gently, looking the wounded bot over with a frown. Broadside hushes Outrider softly. "Jazz is here. You're safe now. We Autobots take care of each other. You'll be fine." Blizzard exits the shuttle behind jazz, carrying a large then normal field medical kit. She heads over to where Outrider is, taking out a med scanner and starts scanning him. Land Rover arrives at the scene late, and transforms. The brown Land Rover combines with its trailer to form the boxy, compact form of Typhoon. Outrider flicks his optics slowly over to Jazz as the other Autobot appears, a blurry form of white against the starry background. "Cy---*ber... Tron..." his voice rasps, a harsh sound of sand crunching almost. Blizzard looks sad as she looks at the readouts, then looks it over to be sure, she pauses before continuing, remaining as calm as she is able to. "His laser core... has been.. damaged, slashed at the top." Broadside frowns at the news. Jazz smiles a little, "Bet ya got a few good hits in." He says gently, "Cybertron?" he asks, nodding absently to Blizzard. There’s not much he can do about that, so he just accepts the information, concentrating on Outrider. Out of nowhere, someone drops down, slowly, optics seeking out the form that has called her here.. The others, she gives notice to, but her attention remains on alert. Outrider's optics dim slightly, and one might think he were leaving then... then they brighten and he manages another word "Where?" as his chest lets off a shower of sparks from the insides, smoke trickling up from spilt energon catching on fire. Harbinger doesn't move. For our hidden someone's benefit, Harby's pretty much dead. Outrider's sword, tri-bladed, has snapped at the hilt... but still impaling the Sweep... and right through his laser core. It doesn't look good. His optics are dimming into darkness. Blizzard looks up into the sky, pinpointing, as best as she can, not having studied astrogation before, the approximate location of Cybertron and points, "It's about there." Out of nowhere, someone hnnns to herself, watching the Autobots mill about, then watching Harbinger.. she shakes her head, knowing that she should, at least haul the body back to base.. Jazz glances up, nodding slowly, "I've looked at it often enough. It's right between those three stars there, by that sorta blue one. Sort of like it's bein' protected by them." Typhoon approaches the scene quietly, glancing a long moment at the dying Sweep with morbid curiosity, before sidling up next to Blizzard and asking quietly, "What's going on?" watching the injured Outrider with soft concern. Typhoon mutters to Blizzard, "Talk about your lousy first day on the job." to Blizzard. Outrider's dimming crystal eyes turn that way, as he imagines his home world floating out there in space... his form is already darkening at the edges into death "Take Care... Wanderer... " he whispers "Base is yours..." then he looks at the Autobots "Till all... Are one. Thank you... for all." Then, without much more flamboyancy, the Rambler's laser core gives one last flicker, and then darkens completely... his optics forever unlit. Blizzard whispers, "Indeed, a very lousy day." Out of nowhere, someone ahh hells softly, dying Autobot. This makes this harder.. She contemplates courses of action, then drops down towards the edge of the grouping, sidestepping to get closer to Harbinger.. Typhoon's optics widen in horror, Harbinger completely forgotten. "Blizzard! For Primus's sake -- do something!" Blizzard looks down at Outrider saying, "We will remember you Outrider." Then she turns to Typhoon, "There was nothing I could have done, his laser core was damaged, a slash to the top. " Jazz sighs, gazing at Outrider for any last sign of life. He glances at Blizzard, then lowers his head, "Don't know if it means much now, but you were one of the better Autobots I knew. See ya around Outrider." He slowly gets to his feet, intoning, "Till all are one." and salutes. Out of nowhere, someone says, from Harbingers side, "Well.. That’s one more victim of the war.." A pause as she looks Harbinger over, "Make that two..." Typhoon is flabbergasted. Having been around only a few years, and absent from many of the Autobots' greatest battles, she's never witnessed one die before her. Broadside looks up at the voice. "Jazz! We got another one!" He draws his plasma-pulse gun. Typhoon glances over at the voice, but then turns back to Outrider's form. Outrider just... lays there, dead, and damaged, his sword hand still clutching the hilt of his rambler sword, the dragon coil hilt glittering in a strange contrast to his dull, black body. Out of nowhere, someone heaves a soft sigh, "I'm just here to collect my fallen comrade.. Would rather not come to blows with any of you." That said, something seems to pool up from a remnant of shadow, reforming into a tall, gray femme. Ghost suddenly appears with a slight whisper of sound. Blizzard shakes her head, "it's different with a laser core. Vector Sigma encodes those in a unique manner." Jazz glances over at the Decepticon, "Somethin' tell me we won't get much trouble from the Cons today, Broadside. Let's just get Outrider outta here." He gives Typhoon a gently pat, then starts heading back towards the shuttle, "Be gentle with him." Broadside keeps his gun trained on Ghost, but follows Jazz's lead on how to handle this. <> Swish says, "en route" An Interstellar Pteronodon flies into the area quickly, in pteranadon mode. It flies downward, making best speed. Ghost nods to Jazz, politely, it would seem. "No trouble from me, sir," she says softly, optics flickering. She kneels and looks Harbinger over, a brow arching upwards. Broadside keeps his gun trained on Ghost, but seems more sorrowful than aggressive. He holds his fire. Typhoon frowns, not accepting the finality of Outrider's death. Outrider just lays there, slowly growing towards corpus ridgidus. Ghost shakes her head and stares at Harbinger, "Not a medic, mei amici, but I think you've cashed in your chips.. " She frowns, optics getting a sullen violet tinge to them. Harbinger does the same as Outrider, 'cause he's dead and his player feels like being unoriginal in his pose. Typhoon says, "Come on, Blizzard. Let's get him to Wheeljack. I'm sure he can save a copy of Outtie's mind, or something, 'til we can get him a new core! Take him to Vector Sigma!" Jazz glances back for a moment, then heads into the shuttle. There's time for ceremony later. It's just going to be a little different then he had planned. Typhoon says, "Bombshell copied his good half and made Cheshire..." Typhoon brainstorms ways to magically bring Outrider back to life, discussing things in front of a Decepticon intelligence agent she probably shouldn't. Ghost fehs and starts to get ready to carry Harbinger back. For her size, she isn’t as weak as she allows others to think, but hauling him back may tax even her systems. Blizzard composes and pulls herself together so she looks about as calm as possible. Typhoon says, "I'm sure we can do something..." She stares at Outrider's body, panic growing internally as she refuses to accept what she's witnessing. Reading files on the casualties of war and actually witnessing them are two very different things. Ghost slowly, and carefully gets her arms under harbinger, then she braces, pushing off of the ground with a soft grunt to shoulder the dead body of the sweep. She makes a face, strain evident in the tense scowl on her face, but she kicks into the air nonetheless, despite a shrill whine emitting from her antigravity systems. Broadside emits a sigh, holstering his pistol as he watches Ghost fly off with the dead Con. Blizzard works with Typhoon to get Outrider into the shuttle, sad at loosing someone, but holding it in for now, she'll cope later when she's more alone. Autobot Shuttle Blizzard boards the Federation II. Outside> Ghost flies slowly upwards, heading back to whence she came, burdened by the frame of another. Typhoon helps get Outrider into the Fed and onto a medtable. Blizzard straps him down so he'll not move during the flight. Outrider's hand releases the sword's hilt, and it falls to the floor, the remains of the blade sinking in to stick up. Typhoon stares down at Outrider, hand covering her small mouth. Blizzard says "You wish to pilot or shall I?" Typhoon says softly, "I'll pilot." She moves quietly towards the NavCon. She straps herself in, glancing back at Outrider's body one more time. Outrider lays there, dark, still, dead. nuff said. Broadside boards the Federation II. He ducks as he enters the small shuttle, and moves to strap himself in, silently. Typhoon locks in a route back to Auto City, and registers her flight plan. <> Dust Devil says, "so what's goin on?" <> Weatherbot Typhoon says, "Outrider's dead, Dusty. We're bringing his body back to base." Outside> Twin speakers from the Federation II boom "Swish? Tail us back, in case the Cons return for revenge or something?" Outside> Interstellar Pteronodon booms, "Acknowledged." Typhoon notes a report as it's entered into the Federation's log and transmitted via Cosmos to Teletrans I & II. She sighs, and activates the shuttle's engines, with much less gusto than usual. Outside> Autobot Shuttle rises carefully, turning in the air. Slowly, but with steadily increasing speed, it heads back to Auto City. <> Dust Devil doesn't say a word for the longest time before saying, "B-but he was just made a bot...." His voice is really soft. The shuttle flies onward to... Colorado/New Mexico - USA Two very different states, Colorado and New Mexico border each other. Beautiful and scenic, Colorado is favored among tourists, and is known for it's high mountainous areas, which provide a vital North American ski industry. New Mexico, naging in the climate shadow of the Rockies, is the start of the North American desert. Warm and somewhat barren, it's known widely for Roswell, where an alien craft supposedly crashed amd was covered up by the Government. It's also the supposed home to Area 51, the legendary secret military base, and as the testing ground during World War 2 for the American atomic weapons. <> Blizzard says, "Too true." <> Weatherbot Typhoon says, "Yeah. $#!+ty first day at work, eh?" Typhoon repeats her earlier quip, attempt at masking her horror with humor falling flat. The shuttle flies onward to... Utah/Arizona - USA The Southwestern states of Utah and Arizona are warm and home to a terrain of rugged beauty. Utah, with the only completely inland body of salt water in the USA, the Great Salt Lake, also holds many smaller canyons which have unearthed many fossils of dinosaurs. Salt Lake City looms here as well, an urban oasis in the desert. Arizona next door is one of the hottest states in the country, a thriving desert of coyotes, scorpions and other desert critters. It also has one of the seven wonders of the world, the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon. Contents: Decepticon Shuttle Typhoon sighs as she passes over the wrecked Destructor. <> Blizzard says, "yep, it was that indeed." Typhoon mutters to herself, "If that Sweep wasn't already dead, I'd fucking kill him myself." The Decepticon shuttle's remains glitter slightly... it was sealed now, a tomb for the bodies of his friends who'd died in the crash. Typhoon flicks switches angrily, muttering profanity as denial gives way to anger. Outside> Autobot Shuttle passes over the sealed tomb, and continues on towards Autobot City. The shuttle flies onward to... California/Nevada - USA Beautiful and warm, California and Nevada are the western most states. California is known as the entertainment center of the United States, as most movies, television programs, and record albums are recorded there. It's also known for some of the worst traffic, smog, and riots in the world, especially in Los Angelos. Nevada, on the other hand, could be considered the Sin capital of the world. Home of Las Vegas, it's the land of casinos and gambling, where people lose their fortunes in the blink of an eye. Incidentally, it's also one of the only states with legalized prostitution. Typhoon flies the ship over across Nevada, and over the Jackson Mountains into the Black Rock Desert. <> Dust Devil says, "I'm going out.....don't bother lookin’ fer me. " Black Rock Desert, NV Off the beaten path, one of the many Nevada deserts uninhabited by communities. It is a large stretch of land, miles and miles around. There is no build up here; no houses, no factories. In the center of it all, accessible only by a treaded dirt highway, well worn by constant travel, is a large metallic city. To the east of the city runs a river, grasses and trees thriving along its banks. To the west are mountainous rocks and canyons. Behind it are large open flats. This area is governmentally restricted to civilians, a fact enforced by the constant Autobot security patrols. Contents: Dust Devil, Autobot City Outside> Autobot Shuttle swoops in over the Jackson Mountains to the east, and down into the desert, heading towards Autobot City. Outside> Dust Devil is heading out of the base and is preparing to transform. Typhoon spots Dusty on her sensors, but decides to respect his privacy, and continues on to the City. Autobot City ''' '''Main Entrance - Autobot City As you enter the main entrance of Autobot City, a few Autobot guards stop you and check your entrance pass, after they see you have the correct credentials, they wave you on. The inside of Metroplex is ENORMOUS, it seems as if it could go on forever. The walls are completely made of steel and there are computer terminals and intercoms located at strategic places along the way. To the east is a corridor leading towards the heart of the city, and the exit lies opposite of it to the west. Leading off to the side is a long corridor heading towards the Landing Pad where aircraft of all types land and take off as visitors and military personal alike arrive and depart from the city. The shuttle flies onward to... Landing Pad - Autobot City The sounds of aircraft landing and taking off overrun all other sounds here. Shuttles, aircraft, rockets, and other air and space worthy craft reside here in large quantities. Nearby is a large air control tower, where traffic is directed and aided along the way to prevent accidents and unnecessary damage. There are three main launching pads, six runways, and two helipads, as well as at least ten hangars to hold all of the various aircraft and supplies for the incoming and outgoing ships. Outside> Autobot Shuttle flies over the City and settles softly on the landing pad. Typhoon shuts the shuttle down, and unbuckles herself. The shuttle unseals, with a slight hiss of pressure equalization. Autobot Message: Outrider Author: Blizzard Outrider sent a distress call today. Various Autobots arrived, but it was to late. His laser core had been damaged, slashed on the top and the damage was fatal. The TOD was 10:00pm. =